buzz2010 Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 Hi, One of my friends already has external funding (40,000) for her PhD studies. But her GRE scores are not spectacular (just above 1300). Will that external fellowship work in her favors? Will she have much better shot at top 5 schools? Any ideas would be much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eucalyptus Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 Yeah, I've definitely heard from a number of profs that significant external funding is a huge boost to your chances. When you bring your own funding, the department is taking a much smaller risk on you (only spending their time, not their money). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacib Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 Hi, One of my friends already has external funding (40,000) for her PhD studies. But her GRE scores are not spectacular (just above 1300). Will that external fellowship work in her favors? Will she have much better shot at top 5 schools? Any ideas would be much appreciated! It will of course help, but it probably depends on the field. Science grants are more important and science PhD students are expected to bring in funding. In a lot of the humanities and social sciences, school already guarantee five years of funding, so schools care less, and while encouraged to bring in some funding, it is not required. 1300 is not that low, and while below average, I'm not absolutely positive that it would be outside the lowest quartile in some top schools in some programs--especially programs where one of the scores is basically ignored. If an English PhD candidate had a 400 quant 800 verbal, I don't think anyone would bat an eyelid. If a Math PhD had the opposite, again, I don't think it would be a problem. Considering that at top departments, the GRE average is often around 1400, and considering the number of 1500+ scores I've seen, there must also be at least a few 1300-. If your friend is foreign with a low verbal score, this is even less of a problem. An external fellowship will always help, especially in the sciences, but I don't think it is a deal maker any more than a high GRE score is. Yes, depending on the field, I'd say she has a shot even without the funding, assuming the rest of her application is particularly strong; 1200 is the highest "GRE cut-off" rumor I've heard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socialcomm Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 From what I've heard, it does help. Where is it coming from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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